Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who.
He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1982, becoming the second rock drummer to be chosen, and in 2011, Moon was voted the second-greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone readers' poll. ==Early life== Keith John Moon was born to Alfred Charles (Alf) and Kathleen Winifred (Kit) Moon on 23 August 1946 at Central Middlesex Hospital in northwest London, and grew up in Wembley.
The incorrect date had been supplied by Moon in interviews before it was corrected by Fletcher to 1946. ===Kim Kerrigan=== Moon's first serious relationship was with Kim Kerrigan, whom he started dating in January 1965 after she saw the Who play at Le Disque a Go! Go! in Bournemouth.
Moon's recklessness with money reduced his profit from the group's 1975 UK tour to £47.35 (). ==Personal life and relationships== ===Birthdate=== Before the 1998 release of Tony Fletcher's Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, Moon's date of birth was presumed to be 23 August 1947.
He was noted for his unique style and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and drug addiction. Moon grew up in Alperton, a suburb of Wembley, in Middlesex, and took up the drums during the early 1960s.
Daltrey later denied threatening to fire him, but said that by this time the drummer was out of control. ===Financial problems=== Because the Who's early stage act relied on smashing instruments, and owing to Moon's enthusiasm for damaging hotels, the group were in debt for much of the 1960s; Entwistle estimated they lost about £150,000.
He left school at age fourteen, around Easter in 1961.
In December 1962 he joined the Beachcombers, a semi-professional London cover band playing hits by groups such as the Shadows.
After playing with a local band, the Beachcombers, he joined the Who in 1964 before they recorded their first single.
In April 1964, aged 17, he auditioned for the Who as a replacement for Doug Sandom.
He'd move his arms forward like a skier." Daltrey said that Moon "just instinctively put drum fills in places that other people would never have thought of putting them." Who biographer John Atkins wrote that the group's early test sessions for Pye Records in 1964 show that "they seemed to have understood just how important was ...
During much of 1964 and 1965 his setups consisted of Ludwig drums and Zildjian cymbals.
During much of 1964 and 1965 his setups consisted of Ludwig drums and Zildjian cymbals.
He began to endorse Premier Drums in late 1965, and remained a loyal customer of the company.
According to Fletcher, Moon's toilet pyrotechnics began in 1965 when he purchased a case of 500 cherry bombs.
The incorrect date had been supplied by Moon in interviews before it was corrected by Fletcher to 1946. ===Kim Kerrigan=== Moon's first serious relationship was with Kim Kerrigan, whom he started dating in January 1965 after she saw the Who play at Le Disque a Go! Go! in Bournemouth.
The drummer's interest in surf music and his desire to sing led to his performing lead vocals on several early tracks, including "Bucket T" and "Barbara Ann" (Ready Steady Who EP, 1966) and high backing vocals on other songs, such as "Pictures of Lily".
In 1966 Moon moved to an even larger kit, but without the customary hi-hat—at the time he preferred keeping ride rhythms with ride and crash cymbals.
Townshend later said, "A set of skins is about $300 [then £96] and after every show he'd just go bang, bang, bang and then kick the whole thing over." In May 1966, Moon discovered that the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston was visiting London.
In 1966 he worked with Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck, pianist Nicky Hopkins and future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on the instrumental "Beck's Bolero", which was the B-side to "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and appeared on the album Truth.
When he briefly considered leaving the Who in 1966, he spoke with Entwistle and Page about forming a supergroup.
"Drinking suited the group a lot better." According to Townshend, Moon began destroying hotel rooms when the Who stayed at the Berlin Hilton on tour in late 1966.
She and Moon were married on 17 March 1966 at Brent Register Office, and their daughter Amanda was born on 12 July.
This kit was not used at the Who's performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
From 1967 to 1969 Moon used the "Pictures of Lily" drum kit (named for its artwork), which had two bass drums, two floor toms and three mounted toms.
Moon and Entwistle left the Who for a week (with Moon hoping to join the Animals or the Nashville Teens), but they changed their minds and returned. On the Who's early US package tour at the RKO 58th Street Theatre in New York in March and April 1967, Moon performed two or three shows a day, kicking over his drum kit after every show.
In 1967, he contributed backing vocals to "All You Need Is Love".
This is the 'Oo." ===Flint Holiday Inn incident=== On 23 August 1967, on tour opening for Herman's Hermits, Moon celebrated what he said was his 21st birthday (although it was thought at the time to be his 20th) at a Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan.
Reed later said that Moon "showed me the way to insanity." ===Dougal Butler=== Peter "Dougal" Butler began working for the Who in 1967, becoming Moon's personal assistant the following year to help him stay out of trouble.
The marriage (and child) were kept secret from the press until May 1968.
From 1967 to 1969 Moon used the "Pictures of Lily" drum kit (named for its artwork), which had two bass drums, two floor toms and three mounted toms.
On 15 December 1969, Moon joined John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band for a live performance at the Lyceum Theatre in London for a UNICEF charity concert.
His 21st birthday party in Flint, Michigan, has been cited as a notorious example of decadent behaviour by rock groups. Moon suffered a number of setbacks during the 1970s, most notably the accidental death of chauffeur Neil Boland and the breakdown of his marriage.
In recognition of his loyalty to the company, Premier reissued the kit in 2006 as the "Spirit of Lily". By 1970 Moon had begun to use timbales, gongs and timpani, and these were included in his setup for the rest of his career.
In the early 1970s Moon helped Stanshall with his "Radio Flashes" radio show for BBC Radio 1, filling in for the vacationing John Peel.
Butler quit in 1978, and later wrote of his experiences in a book entitled Full Moon: The Amazing Rock and Roll Life of Keith Moon. ===Neil Boland=== On 4 January 1970 Moon accidentally killed his friend, driver and bodyguard, Neil Boland, outside the Red Lion pub in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
His first was in 1971, a cameo in Frank Zappa's 200 Motels as a nun afraid of dying from a drug overdose.
He then jumped back into the limo, saying "I nearly forgot." Fletcher argues that the Who's lengthy break (15 December 1971 – 11 August 1972) between the end of their 1971 Who's Next Tour and the beginning of the Quadrophenia sessions devastated Moon's health, as without the rigours of lengthy shows and regular touring that had previously kept him in shape, his hard-partying lifestyle took a greater toll on his body.
"He was too much of a child himself." From 1971 to 1975 Moon owned Tara, a home in Chertsey where he initially lived with his wife and daughter.
In 1972 the performance was released as a companion disc to Lennon and Ono's album Some Time in New York City. Moon's friendship with Entwistle led to an appearance on Smash Your Head Against the Wall, Entwistle's first solo album and the first by a member of the Who.
He then jumped back into the limo, saying "I nearly forgot." Fletcher argues that the Who's lengthy break (15 December 1971 – 11 August 1972) between the end of their 1971 Who's Next Tour and the beginning of the Quadrophenia sessions devastated Moon's health, as without the rigours of lengthy shows and regular touring that had previously kept him in shape, his hard-partying lifestyle took a greater toll on his body.
He also disputed a widely held belief that Moon drove a Lincoln Continental into the hotel's swimming pool, as claimed by the drummer in a 1972 Rolling Stone interview. ===Passing out on stage=== Moon's lifestyle began to undermine his health and reliability.
In 1973 Premier's marketing manager, Eddie Haynes, began consulting Moon about specific requirements.
Clover, drummer for the fictional Stormy Tempest (played by Billy Fury) at a holiday camp during the early days of British rock 'n' roll, in 1973's That'll Be the Day.
During the 1973 Quadrophenia tour, at the Who's debut US date at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, Moon ingested a mixture of tranquillisers and brandy.
Jack McCullogh, then working for Track Records (the Who's label), recalls Moon ordering him to purchase a milk float to store in the garage at Tara. In 1973 Kim, convinced that neither she nor anyone else could moderate Keith's behaviour, left her husband and took Amanda; she sued for divorce in 1975 and later married Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan.
Moon filled in for Peel in 1973's "A Touch of the Moon", a series of four programmes produced by John Walters. Guitarist Joe Walsh enjoyed socialising with Moon.
At a Madison Square Garden show on 10 June 1974, Townshend and Entwistle decided to spontaneously stop playing during "Waspman" to listen to Moon's drum solo.
Track Records-MCA released a Moon solo single in 1974, comprising cover versions of the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry, Baby" and "Teenage Idol".
He reprised the role for the film's 1974 sequel, Stardust, in Jim MacLaine's (David Essex) backing band the Stray Cats and played Uncle Ernie in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of Tommy.
In an interview with Guitar World magazine, he recalled that the drummer "taught me how to break things." In 1974, Moon struck up a friendship with actor Oliver Reed while working on the film version of Tommy.
He reprised the role for the film's 1974 sequel, Stardust, in Jim MacLaine's (David Essex) backing band the Stray Cats and played Uncle Ernie in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of Tommy.
Marsh suggested that at this point Daltrey and Entwistle seriously considered firing Moon, but decided that doing so would make his life worse. Entwistle has said that Moon and the Who reached their live peak in 1975–76.
Moon's recklessness with money reduced his profit from the group's 1975 UK tour to £47.35 (). ==Personal life and relationships== ===Birthdate=== Before the 1998 release of Tony Fletcher's Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, Moon's date of birth was presumed to be 23 August 1947.
"He was too much of a child himself." From 1971 to 1975 Moon owned Tara, a home in Chertsey where he initially lived with his wife and daughter.
Jack McCullogh, then working for Track Records (the Who's label), recalls Moon ordering him to purchase a milk float to store in the garage at Tara. In 1973 Kim, convinced that neither she nor anyone else could moderate Keith's behaviour, left her husband and took Amanda; she sued for divorce in 1975 and later married Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan.
By the time of their final tour with him in 1976, and particularly during production of The Kids Are Alright and Who Are You, the drummer's deterioration was evident.
The band continued without him for several songs before Townshend asked, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good?" A drummer in the audience, Scot Halpin, came up and played the rest of the show. During the opening date of the band's March 1976 US tour at the Boston Garden, Moon passed out over his drum kit after two numbers and the show was rescheduled.
At the end of the 1976 US tour in Miami that August, the drummer, delirious, was treated in Hollywood Memorial Hospital for eight days.
During the band's recording sabbatical between 1976 and 1978, Moon gained a considerable amount of weight.
Moon continued briefly and then stopped, shouting "Drum solos are boring!" On 23 June 1977, he made a guest appearance at a Led Zeppelin concert in Los Angeles. Moon also aspired to sing lead vocal on some songs.
By the time of the Who's invitation-only show at the Gaumont State Cinema on 15 December 1977 for The Kids are Alright, Moon was visibly overweight and had difficulty sustaining a solid performance.
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who.
Moon moved back to London in 1978, dying in September of that year from an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug intended to treat or prevent symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Moon's drumming continues to be praised by critics and musicians.
Moon's last film appearance was in 1978's Sextette.
During the band's recording sabbatical between 1976 and 1978, Moon gained a considerable amount of weight.
Butler quit in 1978, and later wrote of his experiences in a book entitled Full Moon: The Amazing Rock and Roll Life of Keith Moon. ===Neil Boland=== On 4 January 1970 Moon accidentally killed his friend, driver and bodyguard, Neil Boland, outside the Red Lion pub in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
Dymond prescribed a bottle of 100 pills, instructing him to take one pill when he felt a craving for alcohol but not more than three pills per day. By September 1978 Moon was having difficulty playing the drums, according to roadie Dave "Cy" Langston.
Moon was cremated on 13 September 1978 at Golders Green Crematorium in London, and his ashes were scattered in its Gardens of Remembrance. Townshend convinced Daltrey and Entwistle to carry on touring as The Who, although he later said that it was his means of coping with Moon's death and "completely irrational, bordering on insane".
AllMusic's Bruce Eder said, "When Keith Moon died, the Who carried on and were far more competent and reliable musically, but that wasn't what sold rock records." In November 1978, Faces drummer Kenney Jones joined the Who.
In a 1981 Los Angeles Times interview he admitted, "A lot of times when Keith was blowing up toilets I was standing behind him with the matches." A hotel manager called Moon in his room and asked him to lower the volume on his cassette recorder because it made "too much noise." In response the drummer asked him up to his room, excused himself to go to the bathroom, put a lit stick of dynamite in the toilet and shut the bathroom door.
He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1982, becoming the second rock drummer to be chosen, and in 2011, Moon was voted the second-greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone readers' poll. ==Early life== Keith John Moon was born to Alfred Charles (Alf) and Kathleen Winifred (Kit) Moon on 23 August 1946 at Central Middlesex Hospital in northwest London, and grew up in Wembley.
Keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, who had rehearsed with Moon earlier in the year, joined the live band as an unofficial member. Jones left the Who in 1988, and drummer Simon Phillips (who praised Moon's ability to drum over the backing track of "Baba O'Riley") toured with the band the following year.
Jazz drummer Elvin Jones praised Moon's work during "Underture", as integral to the song's effect. Ray Davies notably lauded Moon's drumming during his speech for the Kinks' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1990: "...
Starkey had previously toured in 1994 with Roger Daltrey. The London 2012 Summer Olympic Committee contacted Curbishley about Moon performing at the games, 34 years after his death.
Since 1996, the Who's drummer has been Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey, who had been given a drum kit by Moon (whom he called "Uncle Keith").
Moon's recklessness with money reduced his profit from the group's 1975 UK tour to £47.35 (). ==Personal life and relationships== ===Birthdate=== Before the 1998 release of Tony Fletcher's Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, Moon's date of birth was presumed to be 23 August 1947.
'My Generation' was a turning point for me because before that it was all the Charlie Watts and Ringo type of thing." In 1998 Tony Fletcher published a biography of Moon, Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, in the United Kingdom.
In 2000, the book was released in the US as Moon (The Life and Death of a Rock Legend).
In recognition of his loyalty to the company, Premier reissued the kit in 2006 as the "Spirit of Lily". By 1970 Moon had begun to use timbales, gongs and timpani, and these were included in his setup for the rest of his career.
When asked by an audience member what would happen to the kit, he joked that "even the best drummers get hungry." His performance was not appreciated by animal lovers, several of whom called the station with complaints. ====Film==== In the 2007 documentary film The Story of The Who, Daltrey and Townshend reminisced about Moon's talent for dressing as (and embodying) a variety of characters.
Q Magazine called the book "horrific and terrific reading", and Record Collector said it was "one of rock's great biographies." In 2008, English Heritage declined an application for Moon to be awarded a blue plaque.
Speaking to The Guardian, Christopher Frayling said they "decided that bad behaviour and overdosing on various substances wasn't a sufficient qualification." The UK's Heritage Foundation disagreed with the decision, presenting a plaque which was unveiled on 9 March 2009.
He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1982, becoming the second rock drummer to be chosen, and in 2011, Moon was voted the second-greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone readers' poll. ==Early life== Keith John Moon was born to Alfred Charles (Alf) and Kathleen Winifred (Kit) Moon on 23 August 1946 at Central Middlesex Hospital in northwest London, and grew up in Wembley.
Starkey had previously toured in 1994 with Roger Daltrey. The London 2012 Summer Olympic Committee contacted Curbishley about Moon performing at the games, 34 years after his death.
In 2016, the same magazine ranked him No.
All text is taken from Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License .
Page generated on 2021-08-05